Be My Forever

My Quondam Love

"Ever fallen in love with someone who you shouldn't have fallen in love with?" I glanced at Ben.

He shot me a quizzical look. I smirked.

"He was the mousiest person I've ever know. He had raven hair and heavy eyebrows with those dark, deep, mysterious eyes. Girls would definitely go nuts about him for his cuteness. But, I fell for his innocence."

I closed my eyes and pictured him smile — that cute, perfect smile which gave him dimples. I closed my eyes hard again and told myself not to cry. I took a deep breath and continued,

"His dad had business dealings with my dad and Zhang accompanied him during one of the trips to India. He has a sister named Lee Min Cho. I buddied up with her almost instantly. We were like sisters. Only after that, Zhang felt that I was safe choice to be friends with; he was paranoid about everything. Fun fact: He was an actor!"

"Actor?!" Ben sounded surprised.

"Yeah, he was an actor and he was so passionate about acting and yoyoing. Know what's a yo-yo?"

"That tiny play thing?" Ben guessed.

"Yeah" I went to my study table, opened my drawer and took a yo-yo — a shiny, blue yo-yo. Just by holding it in my hands, it brought so many memories to me. I flicked it down and swung at Ben's face.

"Hey, watch out!" He yelled.

"This is what brought us together" I almost whispered.

Ben took it in his hands and examined it closely.

"Yo-yo is an ancient Chinese game. People stopped playing with it, so they created this TV show called Blazing Teens in which Zhang played the lead actor, to revive the game culture in China. That show was his break. After that he got so many offers."

"His dad didn't like it, him acting. He wanted his son to take over his business and marry LuMeng, his partner's only daughter so that it'll create a better relationship with both the families/companies"

"That sounds....weird" Ben cringed his nose.

"Yeah, it was. But, Zhang loved LuMeng too so that wasn't a problem. Every time he talked about her, you'd just sit there and look into his eyes all day; his eyes would lighten up this whole town. I was so stupid that I fell in love with him seeing how he loved another girl."

Ben opened his mouth to say something but, he closed and let me to continue.

"Love is the sweetest cancer, Ben. I didn't tell him that I was in love with him because I knew that was stupid. I thought that was just another crush"

"One day, I got a call from him. He was sobbing on the phone. I asked him what's wrong and he said he was breaking up with LuMeng"

"Were you jumping in joy?" He interrupted.

"No. I should've; but I didn't, I was so mad at that girl whom I've never even met in my life. Zhang came to India the next morning. He said she cheated over him with another guy and how he hated her now. He looked miserable."

"LuMeng filed a case against Zhang that he'd fled the scene after fathering an illegitimate child. Both the families believed her version. They hated Zhang and his family abandoned him."

"Why would she do that?" Ben asked.

"She wanted to do something before Zhang could tell anybody that she'd cheated on him because, she wanted to look good. LuMeng was an actress too. So, the public started turning against Zhang. He received death threats too."

"That's crazy" he commented.

I nodded.

"He was so scared to go back to China. So, I asked him to leave to Philippines. That was the best thing I'd come up with. He left to Philippines. I was the only one who believed that he didn't father a child. After few days, his dad passed away. He went to China to attend the funeral but people chased him away."